To Go, Or Not To Go...

5 o'clock in the morning is not a time that anyone, no matter the circumstances. It is cruel and unusual. At least, these were the thoughts that were going through my head when my alarm went off at 5, and it was still dark outside. It is the darkness that gets me every time. It really is ridiculous. I would think that it would be nice to at least see the sun. Following this train of thought, I sent wake up text to my friend, and then dozed for 20 minutes, before grabbing my Chinese book, and crawling back into bed to study. It is just so warm and cozy, I can't resist. Who wants to sit in the cold and study? Not me, that's for sure.

I really wasn't very productive. I studied, yes, but at 10 to 6, I was up, and beating my sister to the one big bathroom. I am normally there before she is, but I feel bad if I take too long. I even got out of the house earlier than usual. And didn't miss my bus, for the first time in a month. Today was just destined to be a good day.

I was hoping to hold onto this feeling, as I still had a midterm to do in my second Chinese class. I had a minor panic attack as soon as I got to school, because I realized that there was no way I would do well on my test. Out came the books, if only for 10 minutes, until I calmed down. My math teacher poked his head into the room where a lot of us were, and asked if we had done our calculus homework after the party last night. The awkward silence answered his question, and he left laughing. That was also the end of my attempt to do my homework, because it is basically impossible anyway.

My Chinese test went rather well. We all moved into a different room, and then walked back to the actual Chinese classroom for our oral test (again, speaking...) Shen Lao Shi didn't tell us when 2 minutes was up, so I just rambled until I ran out of things to say. We'll see how it went on Monday. Cross your fingers and toes, people. I finished about 20 minutes earlier than the class was actually over, so my friend Elle and I decided to go downstairs. I was on a mission to get a jian bing, but she wanted to buy puppets for the English poem recitation (don't ask, that is just how she is.)

I got my food first, because I was starting to get grouchy and oh so hungry. We had to cross the road to go to a puppet store close to the university, and there, we hit the jackpot. Elle bought 2 of those stuffed things that have heads at the end of a wooden stick. Know what I am talking about? If you don't, I'm sorry, but I really don't know how else to explain it. Use your imagination. Then it was back up 6 flights of stairs. Sometimes, I really just want to cry. Why is 6 flights of stairs really necessary? Answer: It's not. End of story.

First period for me was Calculus. My stuff was already in there from Chinese, so I didn't even have to move, which is about the only good thing that comes from having Calculus first on Friday mornings. I struggled through the work. I feel like maybe I am kinda starting to get it. I don't know. I know that now I will say that, and then not be able to do anything. Such is life. I couldn't get out of that class fast enough, and was more than happy to plop down in my history room next to listen to a class presentation on pollution. Once a semester, everyone has to pick a topic, and make a presentation on it. It was actually quite interesting today, although I am dreading having to do it myself.

I didn't go to the cafeteria for lunch, which was a rather smart intercept on my part. I'm afraid that the cafeteria food is going to give me food poisoning. No joke. Instead, Warren, Chris and I went to a small, but good restaurant down the road from our school. It is always packed, but by some miracle, we got a table in the front room. Another lady was quickly seated in the spare seat at our 4 person table, but I am learning that this is becoming common practice everywhere. We ordered 3 things of jiao zi. I should have learned not to go out to eat with people of the male persuasion anymore, but our 30 jiao zi were basically inhaled, and we were gone in about 10-15 minutes. A quick stop at our favorite drinks place, and it was back up to do homework for us.

I still had an English poem to memorize, so I walked up and down the hall, reciting the poem to myself like some lunatic that should be locked up. One of my friends was stressing over her class presentation on the Three Gorges Dam in history, so I just went straight to English. The entire class had to recite the poem, and for every person that recited, there were 3 student judges that gave judges. Predictably, everyone except 2 people got 100%'s (I mean, really. Who is going to be the black sheep and give less than a perfect score? They would meet a quick and untimely demise before the end of the day. This is high school, remember.) One guy, Sam, said 14 of 22 lines, and then sat down. Mr. Morison was not impressed, and gave him a C. But Sam in already in Princeton (he's a PG) so what is the point? I mean, really.

After English, I was free. I didn't know what to do with myself. After messing around for just about the whole period, I finally decided to go with Chris to yet another martial arts school. Warren and Sterling also decided to come, and after we all changed out of our school clothes (and left our bags at Chris's house, because he lives right behind the school) we walked 15 minutes to the subway, which is always fun to take. 2 yuan lighter, we arrived at the martial arts place. It wasn't quite as swank, but still intense.

After Chris had his meeting, we were at a loss of what to do. So we picked a direction, and started walking. We stopped in a couple stuffed animal shops, and I decided that we should go shopping (what can I say, I'm a girl, and I need some more makeup and some nail polish). We an alley with a lot of shops on either side, and just started wandering down the roads, looking for things to do. There was a quick stop in a bakery to look for garlic bread (which we found, and Chris and I split) and some entertainment via card tricks, before we bought sandwich's for dinner at a supermarket (and gloves for me, because I was freezing. I swear, I think I have bad circulation or something, because I get insanely cold.) We decided there was nothing else to do and hopped back onto the subway to XiDan, which is a huge underground shopping mall.

We had a bit of a mishap on the subway (ie, Warren, who is supposed to be the subway God, got us onto Line 2 instead of Line 1, so we had to transfer again) before we got to Xi Dan. And damn, it is huge. I didn't know what to do with myself. We headed to a magic shop, since Chris is a magic zealot. I left him there buying things, and went in search of a good red nail polish, which I found for 15 yuan (about 2 bucks). I just finished buying it when the rest of the crowd found me, and by a quick vote, decided to head to the arcade.

I have a confession to make at this point. In Davis, there are no arcades. At all. So I am, or at least was, an arcade virgin. I just about blew Chris away when I commented on this, and was immediately dragged to the nearest kick and punch arcade game, where I was forcefully shoved in front of the controls. We didn't make it past very many levels, but I did play. It wasn't that bad actually. Pretty fun. After that, it was on to the shooting games (can't go to an arcade and not play that.) I was absolutely bloody useless at that (surprise surprise) but I am a good watcher. As soon as I was killed (or ran out of money, actually) I just watched. Chris lasted for a surprisingly long time, before he too ran out of money.

All of us (Chris, Warren, Sterling and I) were all getting kinda tired at this point, so we started looking for an exit. Warren, who had been here before, dragged us in search of the "cool" exit. This didn't make any sense to me at all, but we went along with it. On the way, we were all distracted by a slightly emo shop. Chris and Warren had a slight disagreement over the purchase of a scarf (although Warren got it in the end.)

The cool exit was incredible. This Xi Dan shopping mall is the hugest thing I have ever seen. But in this exit, you just walk up some stairs, and out a door. If you turn around and look at it, all you see is a small drink shop. That is it. I can't acurately describe it, but it is totally incredible. Whoever designed that place was a genius, that is all I am saying.

The subway ride back was rather uneventful. It was rather full, although all of us got seats in the end. We all had to walk back to Chris's house to get our stuff, and by the time I retrieved mine, it was 10 to 10. That kicked me into high gear, and I sprinted for the bus stop. When I got home, and turned the key in the lock, the dog started barking immediately, and woke everyone up. I have never wanted to kick an animal as much as I wanted to kick him out the 12 story window at that point. Little shit dog. But I still love him.

I was exhausted, and gross, and after about an hour iChat conversation, and part of a movie, I was almost asleep. Now this blog is over. I have to go to bed soon. Keep reading for more updates.